f you could only get a win by the number of
hours you wrench, Don, Alisha and I would never loose! From
Wednesday night until the heat race on Saturday, the entire front
end was rebuilt including new tie rods, spindles, brake pads and
even lower control arms, as well as I rebuilt the carburetor and the
drums were rebuilt, twice! But I am certain that we are not
the only team who works this hard on our car each week and that is
why each race driver has such respect for follow drivers. We
ended up 12th on the night, but bringing a car home in one piece
after the carnage tonight was a victory in itself.
The night saw 37 Pure Stocks roll into
Hagerstown Speedway, surpassing car counts in the other classes,
including the Enduros. Our class grows week to week and the
number of great cars and drivers is amazing. Our class had 4
heat races with 9+ cars in each heat. 5 cars qualified for the
feature from each heat. The unqualified cars that were left,
17, had a 6 lap Consi race where the top 6 would make the feature.
We started 3rd in heat #2 and held on to 5th. A last turn pass
on Crazy Kenny Dayhoff came up a few feet short at the checkered
flag. But we were in the feature. My sponsor Bobby
Taylor driving the famous black #3, finished 5th in his heat as well
and this set up our friendly rivalry with me starting 17th and Bobby
19th. Bobby already hit me while we were staging for the
feature and in the in car video, you can see me tell him he is
number 1. My teammate and other Ford driver Tony Catlett cut a
tire in his heat and had to make the feature through the consi.
Tony started 16th in the 17 car field and guided his wounded 'Bird
to a 5th place finish and made the show. Watching the consi
was very entertaining as drivers charged to the front, fell back,
and charged back up again. They were fighting to make the
feature and it was a great race. All of the Fords qualified
tonight and made the feature, but 11 Chevrolets failed to make the
race.
The feature started off relatively calm... we did have a yellow flag
on lap 1, but that was for a broken driveshaft. We then went
green for the next 8 laps or so with some very close racing from the
front of the field to the rear, we were all packed in tightly and
you can see that in the in car video. The next caution
happened right in front of me with someone getting into the 34.
It worried me as you can tell in the video, but Bill does a great
job of keeping his car in his original line and I don't think anyone
else was involved. That was great driving and great car
control Bill.
They say cautions breed cautions and this was the case tonight.
After Bill's spin, two laps later a huge "Talladega-ish" pileup
happens with the leaders three wide in turn 1. I guess
fortunately I was back in 15th or so and we were able to get slowed
down before joining the carnage. It seemed like the top 5 in
points all were involved and were lined up in the rear of the 26 car
field.
We go back to green for lap #13 and everyone
is bunched up. Coming out of turn 2 on lap 14 and hell breaks
loose.
As
I am getting too accustom to seeing, yet another car is flying
through the air. These are 3,300 pound beasts flying in the
air like a plane. 2 of the last 3 races at Hagerstown has seen
3 Pure Stocks (Hawbaker, Sutphin, and now Beavers) barrel roll
coming out of turn 2. Beavers was said to have done 4 rolls
before coming to a stop and getting tagged yet again once he landed.
Bill was involved in the wreck as well and took a hard shot.
We love all of these guys and hopefully everyone is okay. The
cars can be replaced.
So after the Limited Late Models hit their
time limit due to a high number of accidents and clean up, the pure
stock feature ended the same way. Drew Fitzsimmons, whom we
share engine builders with (A & C Machine), came away with his first
victory. It was a well earned win- he surely made a terrific
move to miss the carnage in the turn 1 pile up. Wayne Hawbaker
who has had the worst luck this year came home in second, followed
by Lin Sutphin. The only positive to all the yellows was to
see these guys up there in the top 5, they all did some awesome
driving tonight to miss those big wrecks. Good job guys.
And to the birthday boy Shammy Rock, you are welcome for your
birthday present tonight... funds have been tight for me since the
collapse in the real estate market, so I couldn't afford a gift for
you... my present was a gift wrap pass late in the race... only
because it was your birthday and I didn't want Maureen to throw you
in the dog house all week by getting beat by a Ford- I know see
would love that. Next race Bobby, you are all mine!
The #7 car really felt decent tonight, but we
didn't move too far forward. After the first couple of laps, I
thought we had a good car and you can hear me say that in the in car
audio. I am still having a slight problem with the brakes,
they are brand new passenger car pads, although premium pads.
It just feels like the rotors slip right thru them. Also, the car
was pretty loose off, although the forward bite was good. It didn't
feel so loose off that it would make me slow though. So I don't
know. I didn't feel confident driving it in deep and passing someone
on entry because I was scared the brakes wouldn't slow the car down
and I would take someone out. Don't get me wrong, I was driving it
in hard- the car was a tad tight on entry. And the car wasn't fast
enough to pass someone on corner exit and beat them down the
straight away either... I had to keep chasing the tail up the track
on exit. The car seemed perfect in the middle of the turns, it was
nice and free. The only thing I know is I was wheeling it for all I
had. I know I hit 300 more RPM this week than last. Went from 6700
RPM to 7K, so we did improve the car and the track was a little
faster. There are 38 cars out there and the competition level is
getting really, really high, its tough. For a second in Bobby's
heat, I turned to Don and I said "Mark Jones may end up in the
consi..." I was way wrong, he ended up 2nd, but the first 2 or 3
laps he was in 6th and 7th.
So it is what it is. We had a car to
bring home and she did run well. We are off next week, so with
the car in great shape, Don and I will decide how we want to tighten
it up off the corner, try to fix the brakes, and get the carb
adjusted right for the Small Fry night on August 25th. I am
gonna stop saying we should be fast that night because our luck over
the past 6 or 7 races hasn't been too good. I will say though
during the next two weeks, I will have attention to each detail and
work hard to get the Shamrock Inn/ 1520 AM Vegas Radio Ford
Thunderbird back in the top 10. I just want to apologize to
all my family, friends, and fans for not having the car up further
in the field. As Don can attest too, it isn't from a lack of
effort, dedication, or enthusiasm. Nobody wants to win anymore
than me... I have thrown my life into that car.
Brian